JPS63242685A - Integrated circuit card - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides an integrated circuit card (with integrated circuit chips embedded therein).
(hereinafter referred to as IC cards), especially contactless IC cards.
Regarding C card.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in order to send and receive signals between an IC card and a card reading device or a card reading/writing device, the connection terminal of the IC card is brought into contact with the terminal on the device side and an electrical signal is sent. A contact method in which magnetic signals are exchanged and a non-contact method in which magnetic signals are exchanged between an IC card and the above device are known. However, in the above-mentioned contact method, when static electricity is applied to the connection terminal of the IC card, there is a risk that the embedded IC will be damaged by static electricity, and there is a problem in the reliability of the contact of the contact terminal.

Further, the non-contact method has many problems such as practicality, cost, and operating speed.

On the other hand, in a society where the amount of information processing is expected to increase dramatically in the future, it is expected that the information processing capacity (processing speed) of IC cards will dramatically improve. The transmission speed of magnetic signals by the contact method cannot fully meet expectations.

Note that conventionally, IC cards that do not have a built-in power supply have to have their power terminals in contact with the power terminals of a card reader or the like. In contrast, contactless ICs with built-in power supplies
Cards can send and receive magnetic signals between card readers and other devices in a completely contactless state, but it is impossible to replace the power supply as the power supply wears out, which limits the lifespan of IC cards. It becomes a factor.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the contact method and problems in the non-contact method using magnetic signals, and is intended to solve the problems in the contact method and the non-contact method using magnetic signals. An object of the present invention is to provide an integrated circuit card that has high reliability in signal exchange between devices and has dramatically improved information processing ability.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The IC card of the present invention receives an optical signal input from the outside of the card through the optical signal transmission section into the inside of a card body having an optical signal transmission section. a light-receiving element that converts the signal into an electrical signal;
A light emitting element is embedded, which converts the output signal of the light receiving element and outputs it to the outside of the card via the optical signal transmitting section.

(Function) Since it becomes possible to perform part or all of the signal exchange between the card and the external device using optical signals, the reliability of signal exchange is high and the information processing ability is dramatically improved.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1(a), 1 is the IC card body, and I
Electronic components (not shown) such as a C chip 2, a resistor, and a capacitor are buried therein. An optical signal transmission section 3.4, a plurality of input/output contact electrodes 5, and a power supply electrode 6.7 are provided on the front side of the card body 1. The optical signal transmitting parts 3 and 4 are made of a light transmitting agent, and as shown in FIG. A light emitting element 9 is buried under the bottom surface of the transmission section 4. The light receiving cable 8 receives an optical signal containing identification information input from the outside of the card main body through the transparent section 3 and converts it into an electrical signal, and transmits the output signal to the IC chip 2. A wiring layer 10 for inputting to the upper logic circuit is formed. This logic circuit has a wiring layer 11 for performing a predetermined operation upon receiving an input signal from the light-receiving element 8 and inputting the output signal to the light-emitting element 9. This light emitting element 9 receives an input signal from the logic circuit, converts it into an optical signal, and outputs it to the outside of the card body via the transmission section 4. Note that the input/output contact electrode 5 and the power supply electrodes 6 and 7 are exposed on the surface of the card body, and these are connected to the IC chip 2, electronic components, light receiving cable 8, and light emitting element 9 inside the card body. Predetermined connections are made by wiring.

According to the above IC card, when transmitting and receiving signals with an external device such as a card reading device, power is supplied from the power supply electrodes 6.7, and signals are transmitted and received through the input/output contact electrodes 5. The light receiving element 8 and the light emitting element 9 can transmit and receive optical signals. In this way, by using both optical signal transmission and reception (non-contact method), which has excellent information transmission ability, and signal transmission and reception using electrical signals (contact method), it is possible to improve the efficiency of the conventional contact method. The information processing capacity of an IC card is higher than when only signal exchange using magnetic signals (contactless method) is used.Furthermore, the contactless method using optical signals is more practical than the contactless method using magnetic signals. It is also advantageous in terms of cost.

Furthermore, as in the IC card shown in FIG. 2, the input/output contact electrode 5 of the IC card shown in FIG. By making this change, the reliability of signal transmission and reception will not deteriorate due to poor contact of the input/output contact electrodes 5, and malfunctions will be reduced, reliability will be high, and information processing capacity will be improved. In FIG. 2, the same parts as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

Note that both or one of the light receiving element 8 and the light emitting element 9 in each of the above embodiments may be integrated on the same chip as the IC chip 2.

Furthermore, the power supply electrodes 6.7 in each of the above embodiments may be removed and wiring (not shown) may be provided to supply power to the card body as shown in FIG. In this way, the IC can be completely contactless and extremely reliable.
Cards can be implemented. In addition, in Figure 3, 3.
4 is an optical signal transmission section similar to the above.

In addition, in place of the battery 30 or in combination with the battery 30, a solar cell 40 is provided on the surface of the card body 1 (one or both of the front side and the back side) as shown in FIG.
The solar cell 40 may supply all or part of the power to the IC chip 2 and the like. By using the solar cell 40 in this way, the problem that the lifespan of the card is limited by the lifespan of the built-in battery is eliminated.
The lifespan of the card will be extended. The above-mentioned battery or solar cell can also be provided in the IC cards of the embodiments (FIGS. 1 and 2).

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the IC card of the present invention, part or all of the signal exchange with an external device such as a card reading device is performed by optical signals, so that the reliability of signal exchange is improved. high,
Information processing ability improves dramatically. Furthermore, if a solar cell is provided on the card surface, restrictions on the card life due to battery life when the card has a built-in battery can be relaxed or eliminated, and the card life can be extended.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the IC card of the present invention, FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 1(a), and FIGS. 2 to 4 FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing other embodiments. 1... Card body, 2... IC chip, 3, 4...
- Optical signal transmission part, 8... Light receiving element, 9... Light emitting element, 30... Battery, 40... Solar cell. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Inside the card body having an optical signal transmission section, there is a light receiving element that receives an optical signal input from the outside of the card through the optical signal transmission section and converts it into an electrical signal, and a light receiving element that receives the output signal of this light receiving element. Embedded is a logic circuit provided on an integrated circuit chip that performs a predetermined operation, and a light emitting element that receives an output signal from the logic circuit, converts it into an optical signal, and outputs it to the outside of the card via the optical signal transmission section. An integrated circuit card characterized by: (2) The integrated circuit card according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the light receiving element and the light emitting element is formed on the same integrated circuit chip as the logic circuit. (3) The integrated circuit card according to claim 1, wherein the card body has a built-in battery. (4) The integrated circuit card according to claim 1 or 3, wherein a solar cell is provided on the surface of the card body.